Welcome to the Narrow Tier Blood Bowl (NTBB) house rules. The NTBB rules combine 10 house rules to improve CRP Blood Bowl (also known as CRP+ - approved for further unofficial testing by Tom Anders, Ian Williams and Stephen Babbage of the former BBRC) with my own roster changes to 11 of the 24 official team. The intent of this set of house rules id to diversify Blood Bowl by making more teams and tactics viable. Originally I wanted to do this with just roster tweaks, but when I realized just how dominant bash has become in long term play, I figured that that too would lessen league diversity, so I adopted and eventually altered a list of ideas for long term play originally created by Tom Anders.

The CRP+ rules deal mainly with the long term dominance of bash, but also introduce changes to the Human and Khemri roster, both of which seem to struggle near the low end of tier 1. The NTBB roster changes continue this idea of bringing more parity to tier 1, by reining in the starting power of 5 teams that are in my experience very strong starters: Amazon, Dwarfs, Orcs, Undead and Wood Elfs - and by slightly buffing the Slann team. These 5 power teams may well fit the BBRC's definition of a tier 1 team, but it is my contention that these teams start out overly strong, even if it evens out in later play. Furthermore the NTBB rules introduce buffs to the tier 2 and tier 3 teams, with the intent of pushing the tier 2 teams (Vampire, Underworld) to the cusp of tier 1, and of improving the tier 3 teams (Goblin, Halfling, Ogre) enough to make them more viable - without making them equal to proper tier 1 teams.

It should be noted that the ex-BBRC involvement in the CRP+ part of these rules does not imply that the NTBB is somehow a semi-official project. Odds are that there will never be another Living Rule Book, and if there is then the ex-BBRC - and certainly myself - are very unlikely to be let anywhere near it! So, NTBB is a set of house rules based on a lot of online discussion, that I hope will appeal to anyone sharing my view of the current tier system.

The Dwarf Slayers trade Block for Juggernaut - after all they're suicidal! Having all their AV8 players start blockless will make dwarfs more vulnerable.

The Wood Elf Wardancers trade Block for Fend. This most likely will push Strip Ball back a bit on the development curve, giving other teams some time to respond.

The Undead Mummies trade Mighty Blow for Grab.

The Amazon Blitzers trade Block for Wrestle. Surely useful, though not is great as the power of Blodge. To strengthen them in long term play, all Amazon gain access to A-skills - and to prevent the Catchers from becoming redundant, I've given them Diving Catch for free. A-access should keep the Amazons deadly with the use of mainly Side Step and Jump Up.

The Orc team is not open to an obvious skill swap, so instead the Blitzers will be priced more fairly at 90K.

Tier 2 - minor boosts

The Vampire team gets Thick Skull on the thralls - making the team slightly less likely to self destruct. In buffing the thralls I rejected a classic 6338 statline because it would have to be 50K, and that wouldn't be a buff. Besides, the human species seem to be 6337 + skill, so it fits the template just fine.

The Underworld team just got a 10K discount on the rerolls.

The Slann team gets a 10K discount on the Blitzers.

Tier 3 - the biggest boosts

The Goblin team Trolls are no longer Loners - after all, there are two of them. Furthermore, the 3 Secret Weapons start with Sneaky Git for +10K.

The Ogre team is punching way below it's weight. 10K off the ogres and 10K off the rerolls will give them a better starting team and a TV more true to their ability. Snotlings have also been buffed in 3 ways: MA+, AV+ and Titchy prevents opponents from using Tackle against them on the block dice.

The rotund little Halflings were the hardest to get right. The team has been split into linemen (5237) and catchers (5246) - as a nod to their unusually agile catchers in 2nd ed.